Sports

Local roundup: Express stay hot at home with win over Edge

Windsor Express point guard Horace Wormely, seen at right in this file photo, had 27 points and 14 assists on Wednesday to lead his club past the St. John's Edge.Photo: Nick Brancaccio

Jim Parker, Windsor Star

Published: February 20, 2019 - 10:15 PM

Home continues to be sweet for the Windsor Express.

The club reeled off its ninth-straight win at the WFCU Centre with a 123-116 decision over the St. John’s Edge on Wednesday in NBL of Canada action before a crowd of 1,603.

“That’s pretty good to know because that’s one of our goals,” Express guard Horace Wormely said of the home winning streak. “We try to protect home court.”

Coming off back-to-back losses in St. John’s, the Express scored the game’s first nine points and never trailed in the game that pulled the team to within a game-and-a-half of the Edge for first place in the Central Division.

“Sour taste in our mouths for what they did to us in St. John’s,” Wormely said. ‘We went back, watched film got back to the drawing board, saw a couple of holes we thought we could exploit and it ended up working out for us.”

The Express played without guard Chris Jones, who sat a one-game suspension for unsportsmanlike conduct towards an official. However, the club got guard Ryan Anderson and forward Juan Pattillo back into the lineup.

“Not just what they can do on the floor but their leadership,” Wormely said of Pattillo and Anderson. “Him and Ryan, that’s what you miss. That calm and that steady. It doesn’t show in stats, but in the win column.”

The Edge made several runs at the Express, but Windsor refused to relinquish the lead with Wormely leading the way with 27 points and 14 assists.

Tyrrel Tate, who got extended minutes with Jones out, finished with 23 points while Anderson and Pattillo each chipped in with 22 points and DeAndre Thomas added 12 points off the bench.

“It’s a good win, a good team win basically,” Wormely said. “I think everyone stepped up.”

Lancers upset

The University of Windsor Lancers women’s basketball team’s was upset on Wednesday in the OUA West Division quarter-finals.

The third-seeded Lancers trailed by as many as 14 points in the second half and eventually fell 62-59 to the sixth-seeded Guelph Gryphons at the St. Denis Centre.

Olivia Osamusali led the Windsor offence with 13 points while Kayah Clarke added 12 points and Samantha Gucciardi came off the bench to also score 12 points.

Canadiens even

It took the Lakeshore Canadiens over four periods to find the back of the net in the team’s second-round playoff series against the Dresden Kings.

The Canadiens scored three times in the second period and earned a 4-1 win in Dresden on Wednesday to even the best-of-seven Bill Stobbs Division semifinal series at 1-1 in the Provincial Junior Hockey League.

Matt Smith, Colin Sartor and Brandon Ireland had second-period goals for the Canadiens to erase an early 1-0 Dresden lead. Ireland scored his second of the game into an empty net to seal the win while goalie Erik Morneau made 21 saves.

Vipers fall

The LaSalle Vipers dropped an 8-5 decision at home on Wednesday to the Komoka Kings in Western Conference play in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League.

Gianluca Pizzuto, Danny Skinner and A.J. Ryan each had a goal and an assist for the Vipers (21-19-2-4). Evan Ferguson and Abdul Abouzeeni had the other LaSalle goals against the Kings (19-22-2-3)

Royals rule

The Lajeunesse Royals are headed to the OFSAA girls’ A volleyball championship.

Lajeunesse earned a spot at the OFSAA event, which is set for March 4-6 in Kenora, with a 3-0 win over the Blenheim Bobcats in the Wednesday’s SWOSSAA final against the Blenheim Bobcats. The Royals took the match by scores of 25-22, 25-22 and 25-21.